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Handicar "Handicar" "The Magic Bush" "Freemium Isn't Free" Freemium Isn't Free
"The Magic Bush"
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TheMagicBushPromo1
Episode no. Season 18
Episode 5
Production no. 1805
Original airdate October 29, 2014
Episode chronology
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List of all South Park episodes

"The Magic Bush" is the fifth episode of Season Eighteen, and the 252nd overall episode of South Park. It first aired on October 29, 2014.[1]

Synopsis[]

Graphic video from an unknown drone is uploaded on the internet.[1]

Plot[]

SPW pic -- Spoiler Spoiler warning!
Plot details follow.

Cartman gets incredibly bored and visits Butters' house to find something to do. Butters mentions his father's drone. Cartman immediately tries to convince Butters to fly the drone, but Butters insists he is not allowed to touch it. Despite this, Cartman takes the drone and tells Butters to meet him after dark at his house.

That night, Butters meets with Cartman, who has already told Kenny about the drone. They begin to spy on the Tucker Residence and find Craig Tucker's mother undressing. They record her completely nude, with Cartman commenting on her abundance of pubic hair. Suddenly, Thomas Tucker, Craig's father, notices the drone.

Thomas quickly comes over to the Stotch Residence and begins yelling at Stephen Stotch. Stephen swears that it could not have been his drone and shows Thomas that his drone is in his garage. Thomas does not believe him, saying that drones cannot fly themselves, but leaves. Stephen begins to become unsettled by the drone. He goes to Butters' room to ask if Butters heard the drone. Butters, desperately trying to catch his breath, denies any knowledge of the drone's activities. Stephen, not noticing that Butters has clearly just returned the drone, becomes more frightened.

The next day, at the Bus Stop, Cartman tells Kenny not to tell Stan Marsh and Kyle Broflovski about the drone or Craig's mom. Kenny obliges but Cartman almost immediately asks them if they want to see Craig's mom's "bush." Kyle is disgusted by this violation of privacy. Stan is skeptical as to why Cartman has it on his phone, so Eric lies and said he downloaded it from the internet, then posts it online to protect his lie.

At South Park Elementary, Butters confronts Cartman in the bathroom about the video and Cartman reassures him. After they leave, Kyle comes out of the stall and reveals he heard the conversation.

Meanwhile, the Neighborhood Watch conducts a meeting about the drone. They all say that Laura must be very embarassed and insult her pubic hair, although they all claim not to have watched the video. They decide to use drones in order to keep watch over the neighborhood.

The next day, Kyle confronts Cartman and Kenny with his knowledge that they started all of the drone trouble. Cartman uses backward logic to put blame on Kyle for spying on Cartman and Butters.

At The Hobby Enthusiast, Stephen and Butters attempt to return the drone. Stephen explains that he believes the drone is flying on its own. The store owner immediately suspects Butters, but Stephen argues that Butters is not allowed to fly the drone without his supervision.

The Tuckers are spied on again by a Neighborhood Watch drone and go to the Park County Police Station for help.

That night, Randy Marsh is controlling a Neighborhood Watch drone and is shot down by a police drone after spying on Peter Nelson having sex with his wife.

A day later, the neighborhood watch drones hold a candlelight vigil for the fallen drone, but the police drones attempt to stop them due to the candles being a fire hazard.

Meanwhile, at the Marsh Residence, Stephen asks Randy if he was spying on Nelson. Randy denies that it was him, furthering Stephen's belief that the drones are flying themselves.

Full-scale drone riots break out in the town, leading the governor to ask the national guard to help. They send in National Guard drones.

On 20/20, an interviewer attempts to interview the Tuckers, pretending he has not seen the video, but insulting Laura about her pubic hair. Stephen Stotch hacks into the live feed and tells everyone that the drones are sentient, citing the video of Laura Tucker's bush, which everyone claims not to have seen but has racked up 300,000 views.

Later, Butters goes to Cartman's house, trying to get him to apologize to Laura and put an end to all the drones. Cartman instead comes up with a plan.

Stephen builds a weapon and head to the garage to destroy his drone, but it is gone.

Cartman uses Stephen's drone and a life-size blowup doll with a huge mass of 'pubic hair' to catch the attention of all of the drones and leads them out of South Park.

At a ceremony, the town celebrates Laura Tucker and her bush with a song performed by a Minstrel, apparently believing Laura was the blowup doll. Butters is still not happy because Laura is clearly still very upset. Cartman says he has a plan to make Laura happy, which panics Butters. He quickly changes his mind and thanks Cartman for making everything work out perfectly.

Critical Reception[]

AV Club gave "The Magic Bush" a "C+" rating saying: "Like many latter-day South Park episodes that strive to hit too many topics (like the season premiere), “The Magic Bush” fails to make a significant point about either of the things it’s dealing with. Drones are bad for spying on people? Sure. We shouldn’t put nude pictures of people online, but it’s not that big of a deal either way? Well, the second part of that is a little bit of a problem, but in general this isn’t that interesting of a position. “The Magic Bush” is classic South Park taking the moral high ground where the moral high ground isn’t that moral, and it’s not that interesting, or enjoyable."[2]

IGN gave "The Magic Bush" a "8.2" rating saying: "This week's South Park combined Ferguson and drones to tell a clever story involving Cartman, Butters and -- of all things -- Craig's mom's nether regions. While certain elements didn't quite come together here (Stephen Stotch's drone conspiracy among them), "The Magic Bush" did a great job of melding satire and "boys being boys" shenanigans."[3]

References[]


  1805: "The Magic Bush" edit
Story Elements

"The Tale of Craig's Mom's Bush" • DronesMinstrel

Media

ImagesScriptsWatch Episode

Release

South Park: The Complete Eighteenth Season

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